


Cloud and Seph's Day After Drinking

by CloudStrifeIsMySpiritAnimal



Series: Telling Time with a Broken Watch [3]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Bad Decisions, Drunk Shenanigans, Featuring Pettyroth, Fluff and Crack, Gen, Hangover, Sassy Cloud Strife
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:33:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28060983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CloudStrifeIsMySpiritAnimal/pseuds/CloudStrifeIsMySpiritAnimal
Summary: Cloud and Sephiroth recover from a night of bad decisions and lots of alcohol.*Set directly after the events of Chapter 20 of Telling Time with a Broken Watch, but can be read independently.*
Relationships: Sephiroth & Cloud Strife, Sephiroth/Cloud Strife
Series: Telling Time with a Broken Watch [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2018923
Comments: 29
Kudos: 273





	Cloud and Seph's Day After Drinking

**Author's Note:**

> For anyone who hasn't read my fic, the setting for this is that Zack dragged Cloud and the rest of SOLDIER out to a bar to celebrate Cloud's birthday, and Cloud ended up getting him and Sephiroth REALLY drunk. Basically I just had way too much fun writing their drunk dynamic, so I wrote this too. Although they're more hungover here than they are drunk. 
> 
> Also DISCLAIMER: I have never been drunk or under the influence before, but I've been around my fair share of drunk people. That being said, sorry if this is a bit ridiculous. It was just way too fun :)

The moment Sephiroth awoke he knew something was wrong. Even before he blinked his eyes open, he was aware of a pounding agony in his temples and an aching soreness throughout his whole body. His throat was dry, his heart racing and his stomach clenching with nausea, and instantly his senses were on high alert for the source of the threat. Bracing himself, he opened his eyes.

And instantly regretted it as the midday light from the floor to ceiling windows swamped his vision with dazzling white sparks of pain. He groaned, pressing a heavy hand over his face as he willed himself to remain calm. After a minute or so he decided it was safe to try again, and wearily removed the makeshift blindfold.

He was more prepared this time, though the brightness was still almost unbearably uncomfortable. Squinting, he cast his gaze over to the white leather couch sitting perpendicular to his seat, blankets strewn across its smooth surface haphazardly and pillows thrown abruptly to the floor. His heart stilled. 

Where was Cloud?

He lurched to his feet, discomfort set aside in the face of his growing anxiety. He knew he’d left Cloud on the couch, wrapped gently in a warm blanket to stave off the cold. He never slept in past his companion – no, if Cloud was gone that meant something had gone undeniably wrong. He froze, considering his own haggard state. If he was suffering so greatly, then surely Cloud had it worse. He was smaller; after all, even if he had the same concentration of mako in his veins, there was simply less of him to fight off whatever was making them so sick. Racing heart stuttering in fear, he stumbled forward past the couch, relief swamping his mind when he noticed the door to the bathroom was ajar.

At least Cloud hadn’t left the apartment.

Moving along on frighteningly uncoordinated legs, he leaned a palm against the smooth white surface of the door, gently pushing it open. His shoulders sagged as he caught sight of a familiar head of blond hair, only to stiffen as he took in the small man’s collapsed form, huddled in a ball beside the toilet. The door creaked, announcing his presence, and the man’s dazed mako blue eyes blinked slowly open.

“Cloud,” Sephiroth rasped, stumbling into the bathroom, eyes bleary and blanket stilled draped around his shoulders. “I think we’ve been poisoned.”

Cloud shifted, raising his head off the ground by a few inches. “Huh?”

Feeling calmer now that at least he knew his counterpart was safe and alive, he held out a hand haltingly, nodding hesitantly as he collected his thoughts. “You just stay where you are, try to get some fluids in you. I’ll call Veld.”

Cloud sighed. “Sephiroth.”

“With our metabolisms we should have a bit more time before things grow dire, but –,”

“Sephiroth.”

“It must be some sort of neurotoxin, that would explain how it took effect so quickly –,”

“ _Sephiroth!”_

Dazedly he blinked, glancing back at Cloud.

Cloud groaned, sinking back to the floor. “We’re not poisoned.”

Sephiroth frowned, completely taken aback. “We’re not?”

“…no.”

“Then what is this?”

“We’re hungover.”

“Oh.” He blinked again. “I’ve never been hungover before.”

Cloud huffed, curling in on himself further. “Yeah, I gathered.”

Sephiroth frowned, finally remembering Cloud’s position. “What are you doing on the floor by the toilet?”

Cloud blinked at him wearily. “Vomiting.”

“Oh.” He paused, brow creasing. “Are you sure we’re not poisoned?”

Cloud sighed, rolling onto his back and draping an arm across his forehead. “...yep.”

The silver-haired man shifted uncomfortably. “What do we do?”

“Suffer,” the small warrior offered bitterly, lips drawing into a pout.

“For how long?” Sephiroth pressed, eyes widening in worry.

Again, Cloud groaned, rolling onto his side. “Until Gaia forgives us,” he moaned rather dramatically.

Sephiroth sighed, stepping forward. “Well I for one do not plan on waiting for the impossible.”

“Good for you,” Cloud mumbled, pressing his cheek against the cool tiles.

“ _Cloud_ ,” he murmured chidingly, prompting the man to unfold and pull himself into a sitting position, growling angrily. Sephiroth bit back a chuckle. For once the man looked more like an irritated cat than an angry chocobo.

“Fine,” Cloud huffed, blue eyes narrowed in a glare.

Sephiroth bit his lip, searching for something to say. “Should we eat something?” he asked at last, hoping at the very least he could facilitate their recovery.

“Ughh...” Cloud groaned, clutching his stomach painfully as he haltingly lurched to his feet. “Don’t mention food.”

Sephiroth nodded, wincing when the movement caused his head to twinge painfully. “What about hydration?”

“Maybe,” Cloud sighed, running a tired hand across his face.

Sephiroth’s shoulders slumped. The situation was rapidly looking dire. “Surely there must be a cure?”

“Yeah,” Cloud grunted, shuffling past him into the living room. “Make better life choices.”

“I guess you’re stuck then,” Sephiroth taunted, instantly regretting it as a wave of nausea swept through him.

Sitting gingerly back down on the couch, Cloud glanced at him smugly. “Care to repeat that?”

“No,” Sephiroth mumbled sullenly.

“Come on, sit down,” Cloud told him, patting the couch.

Sephiroth huffed, dragging himself across the room until he could collapse gratefully against the cushions. From his half upright position he glanced at Cloud, brows knitting together in concern. “We’re not going to watch television, are we?” he asked, cringing at the thought of all those bright lights and loud sounds.

“Great Gaia, no. What am I, suicidal?” Cloud shook his head, leaning back and resting an arm protectively around his stomach. He sighed. “We’re just gonna sit here, and enjoy the silence.”

Sephiroth nodded. “Good idea.”

\--------

He didn’t know how long they stayed there on the couch, only that after awhile the burn in his throat became unbearable and they stiffly made their way to the kitchen. After downing a glass of water with shaking fingers, Sephiroth hauled himself back to the living room, flopping bonelessly onto to the couch. “It’s too bright.”

“Shut up!” Cloud hissed, his voice surprisingly distant. “You’re being too loud.” Frowning, Sephiroth managed to lift his head far enough off the cushions to catch sight of the smaller warrior, blanket wrapped tight around his narrow frame as he crept towards the window, like a cat stalking up to a mouse. A very bright mouse, Sephiroth thought vaguely, shutting his eyes with a grimace as his head pounded in complaint. Beyond him Cloud reached out tentatively with one arm to grab the thick curtains, mako blues narrowing in determination as he cautiously fisted the fabric. Without warning, he moved, sprinting across the room as he dragged the shades closed. The minute the dark fabric covered up the last bit of light he collapsed onto the floor with a groan.

Sephiroth glanced up warily at the sound of the rushed footsteps, brows knit in confusion. His gaze was instantly drawn to the collapsed blond, his lip twitching in consternation. “Why didn’t you just walk?”

Cloud heaved a breath, face abnormally green as he waved away the question. “It was...a necessary sacrifice.”

Sephiroth blinked, gazing around the now dim room curiously. He had to admit, it was much more pleasant now, and it no longer pained him to keep his eyes open. Sighing in relief, he tilted his head back against the cushions, breathing in slowly and deeply. Some indeterminable time later he found himself jolting awake, a faint padding noise drawing his attention. Curiously, he peered over the couch’s arm to see Cloud crawling over to the coffee table, a determined expression on his face as he struggled to keep the blanket from slipping off his bare shoulders.

Sephiroth frowned. “What happened to your uniform top?”

Cloud froze, glaring at him. “I threw up on it.”

“Oh.” Sephiroth paused. “I should call the laundromat.”

Synchronously their eyes darted over to where the apartment phone sat on the kitchen counter, some fifteen feet away. Shoulders slumping, the Silver General just sank back against the pillows. “Or we can just get a new one.”

“Or we can wait til tomorrow,” Cloud grunted, pulling himself up onto the plush chair and curling in on himself like a feline.

Sephiroth hummed. “Will it make it that long?”

Cloud’s brows knit together in confusion. “What do you mean?”

Sephiroth shrugged. “What if it has some hitherto unknown corrosive properties?”

Cloud fixed him with a glare. “It’s vomit, Sephiroth, not acid.”

Sephiroth shook his head. “I don’t know. We imbibed some fairly potent fluids last night.”

Cloud shifted, turning his face into the chair as he moaned against the cushions, “Remind me never to take you drinking again.”

\-------

“Cloud,” Sephiroth asked, frowning, “why are you on the floor?”

A few hours had passed, and apparently somewhere along the line the smaller warrior had left the sanctitude of his chair in favor of the ground. Sephiroth must have missed the actual event, but when he blinked his eyes open against the cushions of the couch, he was met with the sight of fluffy golden spikes almost at eyelevel.

Cloud didn’t even glance up, just shifted slightly from where he laid draped across a pillow, cheek pressed flush to the hardwood. “It’s cool,” he mumbled.

Sephiroth hummed, shifting against the cloying heat of the blankets and staring at the ground enviously. It was certainly tempting, but it was such a long ways away…

“How’d you manage to get down there?” he asked tiredly.

“I slid,” Cloud grumbled. “…And then I rolled.”

Green eyes narrowed as Sephiroth estimated the distance between the edge of the couch and the coffee table. If he could just roll over slightly, maybe he could fit in between…

“What are you doing?”

The silver demon froze halfway across the cushions, a frown twisting his features. “…Problem solving?”

“No!” Cloud grunted, sticking a hand beneath his pillow. “You’re too big. You’ll crush me.”

The larger warrior huffed in frustration, but nevertheless settled onto his back rather than complete the move, one arm flopping lazily over the edge and colliding with something smooth and warm.

“Ow.”

Sephiroth retracted his hand guiltily. “Sorry.”

Cloud growled, though the ferocity was slightly lessened as the sound came out muffled from the pillow. “If I wasn’t so tired…I would stab you.”

Sephiroth humphed. “I’m closer to the swords.”

“I’m faster.”

Sephiroth smirked. “Not right now you’re not, little wolf.”

“Well you’re a stupid, feathered…” Cloud trailed off, brows knit in frustration as he tried to come up with a better insult.

Sephiroth snorted, allowing his lashes to drift closed. “I’ll let you think about it.”

\----------

The next time he woke, his head was pounding and his tongue suspiciously dry. “Cloud,” he mumbled, brows furrowing when he found his voice sluggish and tired.

“Mm?”

“Where did we put…the pain medication?”

Cloud groaned, lifting an arm behind his back to point at the empty kitchen. “It’s all the way...over there.”

Sephiroth’s shoulders slumped and he sagged back against the couch.

“Cloud,” he said again after a moment, his tongue slow and unresponsive to form the sounds.

“Still here,” came the grunted response.

“Remember...how I...used to call you to my office...to do simple things?”

Cloud huffed, blinking one mako bright eye open warily. “Yes.”

Sephiroth frowned in thought. “Do you think...we could get Zackary...to do the same?”

“Depends,” Cloud murmured.

“On what?”

“On whether you can handle him actually being here.”

Sephiroth hummed, conceding the point. The last thing he wanted right now was to deal with the puppy’s exuberant energy and high-pitched bark. “I guess we’ll just suffer then.” 

There came a sharp exhale from below him. “Sounds like a plan.”

\---------

It was barely early evening when there came a knock at the door. At some point Cloud had managed to pull himself back onto the sofa chair and was now curled into a tight, fluffy blond ball. The moment the sound rang out, however, the ball began to unwind, blue eyes peeking warily from beneath disheveled bangs. The knock came again, and instantly the two warriors froze, exchanging accusing glances. Sephiroth opened his mouth call out, only to be immediately fixed with a vicious glare as the smaller man vehemently mouthed, “Don’t you dare.”

But apparently their visitor wasn’t interested in waiting for an invitation, as not a moment later the door swept open and in walked a familiar dark-haired First.

“Hello, my lovelies!” Zack Fair called, striding confidently across the room and sweeping open the curtains, sending bright, late-afternoon light sweeping over the bleary figures. Instantly Sephiroth scowled, collapsing face-first into the pillow and wrapping his hands over his ears. Cloud, for his part, pulled the blanket over his head, mako eyes blinking unhappily from beneath his makeshift hood.

“Oof,” the First exclaimed, turning back to his friends, “looks like you’ve had a rough go of it.”

“He has a headache,” Cloud pointed out intelligently, lips curled in a pout as he pointed accusingly at Sephiroth.

“Uh huh. And what’s your excuse?”

Cloud just blinked back at him slowly. “It’s my day off.”

Zack raised an unimpressed eyebrow. “It’s the weekend, kiddo. It’s _everybody’s_ day off.”

“Well then you should know better than to go stomping around disturbing everybody’s sleep!” the smaller man hissed, wrapping the blanket tighter around his narrow frame. Across from him on the couch Sephiroth hummed his agreement.

Zack sighed. “It’s four in the afternoon, Spikey. Only ones still sleeping are you two.”

Groaning, Sephiroth raised his head off the pillow, silver bangs tangled messily in front of his eyes. “We’re under the weather, Zackary,” he declared gravely. “We would appreciate it if you left us in peace.”

Zack shook his head. “Yeah, not gonna happen. You’re the ones who decided to go and get shit-faced after telling me I wasn’t supposed to let anyone drink.”

“It was an unfortunate incident,” Sephiroth continued solemnly, before abruptly burying his head stubbornly back into the cushions.

“The bar keeper lodged a formal complaint,” Zack countered. “Apparently you drained the place dry.”

Cloud scowled, poking his blond spikes out from underneath his fabric cocoon as he mumbled, “Well it’s their fault for not stocking up. What did they expect?”

“Um...a warning?”

Sephiroth snorted. “Who needs a warning when Cloud practically screams, ‘bad idea?’”

Cloud turned to glare at his companion. “Hey, I’m the sane one here.”

Sephiroth just muttered something unintelligible and tossed the nearest pillow at him.

Zack sighed, shaking his head as he made for the door. “Fine. But you better be back to normal tomorrow. You’re setting a terrible example for the troops.”

“There’s no one here but you, Zackary,” Sephiroth countered, shifting lazily into a more comfortable position.

Zack scoffed, making for the exit. “You guys are hopeless.”

“We love you too, Zack,” Cloud called after him.

Just before the door swung shut, he vaguely heard Sephiroth mutter, “Where’d my pillow go?”

“You threw it at me,” came Cloud’s dry response.

“Oh. Can I have it back?”

“No. It’s mine now.”

Zack shook his head. At least they were talking.


End file.
